A Gift For Eric
by Ambrosia Rush
Summary: Nell wants to get Eric a surfboard for his birthday, only she has no idea how to go about choosing one so she enlists the help of the only other surfer she knows.


"Marty?"

"Hm, yeah," Deeks had one thing on his mind as he was walking to his car, and that was coffee, preferably in a very large mug, soy milk two sugars.

"I was wondering if you could help me with something," even though the detective was exhausted Nell had to take two strides to keep up with his long gait.

"Sure," Deeks rubbed his eyes, they'd been on a case for nearly seventy three hours and he needed coffee or a bed like sixteen hours ago.

"Eric's birthday is coming up," Nell went on and he wondered how she still had so much energy, then again he'd seen the recycling bin outside of the ops centre and it was overflowing with energy drink cans and bottles. "And I noticed that his surfboard is a little... beaten up so I thought as a gift I'd get him a new one... only I know nothing about surfboards but then I thought since you surf maybe you could give me some pointers?"

"Sure," Deeks responded, "meet me tomorrow at ten at the Surf Shack in Malibu we'll find him something nice."

She smiled widely at him, "thank Marty!"

::

He figured since he was going to be in Malibu anyways (and maybe he had picked that particular surf shop so he could have an excuse to surf there- strictly subconsciously though) he'd catch a few waves and when he spotted the short brunette standing in the sand with two coffee's in hand he knew his time was up. He came back in and shoved his board down in the sand while he pulled the string on the zipper down and stripped off the upper half of his wetsuit causing a faint blush on Nell's face and she looked away handing him his coffee. "Thanks."

"Figured since you'd come all the way out here to help me out I owed you a coffee."

He took a sip of the coffee and let out a content sigh before handing it back to her, "can you hold that a second."

"Yeah," she grabbed it and he discarded the rest of his wet suit, his swim trunks underneath still wet but he grabbed a towel and gave a quick dry off and rub to his hair. He pulled on a shirt and slipped into his flip flops. He grabbed his gear in one hand and took the drink with the other. "So," she said, "what do I need to know?"

He waited till they got to the Surf Shack after dumping his belongings in his vehicle he held the door open for her and lead her to a fine looking blue board, "okay here is what you need to know," he pointed to the top, "that's the nose," he moved his hand down and to the sides, "the rails," he pointed lower and centre, "the deck," and at the bottom, "leash." He went back to the deck, "this is where you stand," he took her hand and put it on the board.

"Kind of rough," she noted.

"Traction pad's already been applied," Deeks explained, "you can pretty much pick anything out of this place and it'll be a guaranteed hit with Eric."

"What about this one," she pointed a board with a fun bright motif.

"That's actually a long board," Deeks took another sip of his coffee, "more for beginners."

"So if I decided I wanted to learn..."

"That's the kind of board I'd recommend," Deeks gave a nod and they moved through the shop with ease.

"Oooh," Nell stopped, "one like this?" She pointed to a dark green one with vibrant yellow swirls.

"That's a nice one," he commented with a nod and ran his hands over the rails and checked it for dings that might have happened in storage or delivery but it seemed clear. "Looks good, this the one?"

Nell gave it another inspection before nodding, "yes."

Deeks handed her his coffee and he took it down from the racks and took it to the front handing the teller his discount card. "Hey Marty, long time no see."

"Been busy," Deeks responded in a friendly tone as he took his coffee back.

"And who might you be?" The dark haired man asked Nell but threw a curios look Deeks's way.

"Nell," she introduced herself, "I'm a co-worker of Marty's."

Deeks had to do his very best to keep from laughing... she had no idea that he had met Markus while on an undercover stint working at the XXX DVD shop. The look on Markus's face was absolutely priceless and then he asked, "you two an item?"

"Oh no," Nell looked between the two men wondering what was going on.

Markus looked her over, "you seeing anyone."

Deeks stepped in, "you going to ring that board through or what?" Markus was a good guy, he knew his surfboards but he didn't exactly want Nell going out with a man who felt the need to rent porn- especially when you can get it for free on the internet. Since Deeks had interjected she figured the man was likely an ex-con or a fugitive of some sort... her imagination ran away with her a bit.

Nell paid and the two of them walked out, "what was that all about?"

"What all about?" Deeks feigned innocents and threw his empty cup in the trash.

"You two just kind of got this weird look when I said I was your co-worker, he thinks you're a cop right?" She asked as she walked toward his vehicle. "Do I not look like I could be a cop."

"You're a little short." She shot him a dirty look and he sighed, "he met me while I was doing an undercover stint at a less than awesome job." He put the board up on his rack since they'd already determined her little red Mini Cooper wasn't the best idea.

"What job?" she asked with a mischievous grin upon her face.

"A...uh... it was at a movie rental place, I just... put the movies on their accounts," Deeks said.

"Oh...OH! That kind of movie rental place!"

He looked over his shoulder at her as she succumbed to giggles. "And you told him you were my co-worker."

A flush came upon her face, "oh, I did, didn't I?" She burst out laughing again, "I can never come back to Malibu again!"

::

"Keep them closed!" Nell ordered leading her blinded partner through the parking garage.

"I am," Eric responded and stopped when she did, "can I open them now?" she adjusted him just a bit so he was standing right in front of the board leaning against the wall.

"Yep." She watched his face light up with joy as he walked over to inspect his new board, "so what do you think?"

Instead of an answer she got a strong hug from her partner, "best birthday ever."

Since the guy at the Surf Shack thought she rented out porn movies she decided to take all the credit for herself.


End file.
